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I need to pre-pay long-distance to reserve a rental property on craigslist. How can I avoid being scammed?

I am traveling to Los Angeles from the east coast in a few months. I intend to reserve a weekly sublet from a private owner on craigslist. The thing is that they want me to pre-pay to reserve the rental for me. How can I ensure they aren't a scammer with pictures of a fake property and that they won't take my money and run? If they do agree to do a contract, how can I be sure it's binding? Thanks!

Public Comments

1. Hmmmm....interesting but valid. I'd suggest you ask the person you want to rent from to write up a contract (basic) and ask them to have it notorized at a local bank. It's like anything else though - that still isn't a guarantee but it validates the written agreement by a 3rd party. OR how about mailing them a personal check but put a later date on it in LARGE print so a bank won't cash it until closer to your arrival date. Good Luck
2. you can do "reversal checks" on people.. so......get the name and address and the rental addresss..then do a "reversal" of all the information and the property you can do a check on who owns the property as well..online or phoning the local city halls.. i would send no payment until..i had done a check.. and don't mail a "dated payment" you have then given them your banking routing numbers and credit card numbers...and they can do lots with that.. check them out first.. i had 4 fake checks given to me off "craigs list" everything was done from shaving numbers off..to an out and out photocopy of someone else's check.. good luck...
3. CL has many rental scams. Beware! You must have a friend or personal representative meet them at the building location in the apartment that you are to rent. They should be able to present ID. You mentioned that it is a sublet from a private owner, which does not make sense. If you are dealing with the owner, you are letting, leasing, or renting directly from the owner. If you are subletting from another tenant, they should be able to provide you with the original lease, which will show their name and permission to sublet. You might want to try an extended stay hotel, or stay 2 days in a regular hotel and deal directly with longer term rentals when you are there.
4. I suggest you verify through the county tax assessor's office that they own the property being advertised. A local realtor can do this for you in a matter of minutes also through their tax feature on the MLS system. Then, you may want to 'escrow' the money instead of paying it directly to them. In other words, have a neutral third party hold your funds and the contract with instructions to release the funds to the owner upon your arrival and occupancy. Sort of like a pay-pal arrangement. Again a local escrow office can probably do this for a small fee. Good luck in LA